Way too low for down south even too low for up north, don't under sell your services or you will be working like a slave for nowt.
when i first started working for myself i was under charging on my hourly rate as i'm a spark not a business man, i had more work than i could manage and was working seven days a week, the penny didn't drop i was under charging until i was on a job and the guy had left the 3 qoutes he'd received on the kitchen table in full view, i was the cheapest the next one was nearly double and the third was three times my price, after that my rates went up, my work load dropped but the money i was earning for less hours was still more than that i was making grafting my balls off.
Customers can also be cheeky gits, i've been to give qoutes when i use to work for myself and they counter offer with can you do it for this price, i don't want to pay any more than this, it's best to just walk away from those jobs, in a few cases what they wanted to pay wouldn't even cover the cost of materials, i'd have been out of pocket on parts and given my time away for free.
You soon wise up when money starts leaving your pockets for this that and the other and everything as to be paid for, when you work for a company and have no experience in the financial side you don't really know what things cost you go pick up the parts from the wholesalers and book them you never even ask the price, but when i start working for myself the wholesalers i'd been so use to because the company had an account i stopped using as they were over charging, you could see they were trying to take the pi$$, they'd charge what ever they thought they could get away with, i bet you can guess what firm it was.
When you consider every thing that has to be paid for van, van insurance, tax, mot,petrol, tools, test equipment, calibration, scheme costs, your education, advertising, income tax, company insurance, it all as to be paid before you even take a wage, and theres theres plenty of thing i've probably forgot, just rembered phone bill.
And when the customer ask why do you charge so much remember to tell them all of the above, as they think we must be millonaires trying to rip them off.
